Sonipat district
Sonipat district ( , ) is one of the 21 districts of Haryana state in northern India. Sonipat town is the district headquarters. It is a part of National Capital Region along with Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Mewat, Palwal, Rewari, Jhajjar, Rohtak, Panipat, Alwar, Bhiwadi Industrial Town, Noida, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, and Meerut. The district borders Delhi union territory in south, Panipat District in the north, Jind District in the north-west, Uttar Pradesh state in the east with the Yamuna River acting as a border and Rohtak District in the west. Origin of name The district is named after its administrative headquarters, Sonipat. Sonipat was earlier known as Sonprastha, which later became Svarnaprastha (Golden City), which is derived from two Sanskrit words, Svarna (Gold) and Prastha (Place). Over a period of time, the classical name Svarnprastha's pronunciation degraded into Svarnpat, and then to its current form, Sonipat. The earliest reference of this city comes in the epic Mahabharata, and at that time, it was one of the five villages demanded by the Pandavas in lieu of the kingdom of Hastinapur. History This district was carved out of the ersthile Rohtak district on 22 December 1972. Geography Broadly speaking, the entire district is a part of the Punjab plain, but the area is not level in some parts. Over most of the district, the soil is fine loam of rich colour. However, some areas have sandy soil and others Kallar. The plain has a gradual slope to the south and east. The district may be roughly divided into three regions: The Khadar, the upland plain and the sandy region. The Khadar Along the River Yamuna which is a narrow flood plain ranging from 2 to 4 miles in width and is formed by the river along its course. The Khader plain is 20 to 30 ft. lower adjoining upland plain. The soil is fine clay loam left by the receding floods of the Yamuna. Farmers in the Khadar area cultivate rice and sugar cane. Recently, the farmers have started planting Banana, Pappaya and other fruits trees in this area. The upland plain It consists of Sonipat tehsil lying to the west of the Khadar, and is the most extensive of the three regions: The Upland Plain is covered with old alluvium , which if properly irrigated, is highly productive. There is extensive Farming of crops, oil seeds, horticultural plants, vegetables and flowers in this region. The ridges in Gohana tehsil represent the northern most extension of the Aravallis. The sandy region A much smaller part of the district is covered with soil consisting of sand or sandy loam. Parts of this region have high PH values leading Kallor land. Divisions The district comprises three sub-divisions: Ganaur, Sonipat, and Gohana. They are further divided in four tehsils: Ganaur, Sonipat, Kharkhauda and Gohana. The tehsils of Kharkhauda and Sonipat fall under jurisdiction of Sonipat sub division, while tehsils of Ganaur and Gohana fall under the jurisdiction of their respective sub divisions. These are further divided in to seven blocks: Ganaur, Sonipat, Rai, Kharkhoda, Gohana, Kathura and Mundlana. The district comprises 343 villages, out of which 15 are un-inhabited. There are six Vidhan Sabha constituencies in this district, namely, Ganaur, Rai, Kharkhauda, Sonipat, Gohana and Baroda. All of these are part of Sonipat Lok Sabha constituency. The other three Vidhan Sabha constituencies which are part of Sonipat Lok Sabha constituency, namely, Julana, Safidon and Jind are in Jind District The district comprises a lone municipal council Sonipat and 3 municipal committees: Ganaur, Gohana and Kharkhoda. Education The district is one of the major education hubs in North India. Apart from a number of schools and colleges, the district is home to two universities. Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology in Murthal was founded in 1987 and Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwavidyalaya in Sonipat was founded in 2006. Transport Sonepat (Sonipat) Railway Station is located on the Northern Railways' Ambala-Delhi rail route and a number of passenger trains daily passes through it. National Highway 1 passes through this district. Demographics According to the 2011 census has a population of 1,480,080 , roughly equal to the nation of Gabon or the US state of Hawaii. This gives it a ranking of 338th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 15.71 %. Sonipat has a sex ratio of 853 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 80.8 %. References External links *Sonipat district official website *Sonipat Community Portal *Map of Sonipat Category:Districts of Haryana Category:Sonipat district